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Bankrupt without love

What am I working for?

Jesus wants to know. Jesus has some commands for me on this.

I must act on what Jesus wants me to do. The Jesus Manifesto continues!

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” | Matthew 6:19-21

I am not to work for wealth and treasure here on earth. It is all temporary and won’t last. What Jesus forbids in His followers is

  • Selfish accumulation of goods
  • Extravagant and luxurious living
  • The hardheartedness which does not feel the colossal need of the world’s under-privileged people
  • The foolish fantasy that a person’s life consists in the abundance of his possessions
  • The materialism which tethers my heart to the earth

I am to work for wealth and treasure in heaven. My focus must be on the spiritual and on pleasing God. My focus is to be on the eternal. But ‘treasure in heaven’ is incorruptible. What is this? Jesus does not explain. It seems rather to refer to such things as these:

  • The development of Jesus-like character (since all I can take with me to heaven is myself);
  • The increase of faith, hope and love, all of which (Paul said) ‘abide’;
  • Growth in the knowledge of the Messiah whom one day I shall see face to face;
  • The active endeavor (by prayer and witness) to introduce others to Jesus and make disciples, so that they too may inherit eternal life;
  • The use of my money for the poor and needy, which is the only investment whose dividends are everlasting.

Where is my heart? Where am I making deposits and storing up wealth? In the Bank of America or the Kingdom of God? Jesus wants to know.